Paleo Winning.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood when you lose 4lbs without counting calories or exercise.

That's right, folks. It's been about a week and a half since polotek and I started this little experiment, and I'm down in pounds and so is he -- by seven lbs! And the bulk of what we are doing is cutting out grains, starches, legumes, and excess sugar.

And to be completely honest, this change in diet hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would! Don't get me wrong, I have had temptations. The thing on me that has gotten the most exercise these past couple weeks is my willpower. Jeesh...walking into the office kitchen and smelling bread toasting for someone's sandwich? Ugh. Going to a restaurant and seeing that loaf of bread on the table begging for you to break and eat it? Just cruel. Not being able to drink my glass of simply orange mango in the morning? Torture. Though, once I get past the initial test of discipline, and start eating my actual meal, I am ALWAYS quite content and satisfied.

Full disclosure: I wasn't even 100% all this time. And to be honest, the food i cheated with did not meet the expectation of what I built up on my mind. I had some macaroni and cheese last week because I was starving and in a restaurant that basically had no paleo-friendly options or things I could really tweak to make it work. I also got in a few nights of drinking last week (alcohol is a no-go because it turns to sugar in your body) since a friend was in town visiting and there were a couple parties. I tried to mitigate the damage by not drinking beer aka liquid grains. Instead, I opted for red wine or vodka tonics. I even had a little prosecco. I can't help but think of how effective my other eating would have been if I had not indulged. Either way, I really am happy that it didn't completely undo everything else.

Metabolic derangement is my number one fear.

A couple dinners polotek and I have enjoyed include: meatballs and kale, chorizo and stewed okra, bunless burger, scrambled eggs with crab and homemade kale chips!

paleo meatballs and kale with bacon

Polotek and I miss juice. I mean, really miss it. I thought we had it beat -- we were juicing one whole grapefruit and adding sparkling water to it. And it was yummy. This really did the trick for us. But I should have known it was too good to be true. I found an article on the site for the bulletproof diet that says excessive grapefruit is no bueno. So sad. We will limit our intake to maybe one grapefruit a week. Or really bad juice cravings.

Look for me to post recipes for the yummy food we've been eating soon.

chorizo and stewed okra

 I'll soon be entering week 3, and all in all, I'm feeling pretty good about it. I mean, the food is not bad at all -- lots of grass fed or pastured meats --polotek and I have particularly been enjoying lots of bacon and sausages from Olivier's, our amazing local butcher. I can get my needed Japanese fix by eating sashimi and a little wakame -- though, soy of ANY KIND is a big no-no, so no edamame or agedashi tofu. San Francisco, in addition to being localvore-city, is an extremely pork friendly place -- I've been enjoying all kinds of braised pork and variations of pork belly. And the BEST part is that I don't have to be afraid of eating all that fat! Bring. It. On!

the bulletproof diet.

it will take lots of adjustments to get to the level of the bulletproof diet as outlined by dave asprey. but polotek and i are determined to make some serious changes in the long run. 

for now we are hoping to ease into it, making one change at a time, with the hope that these things will stick or at least help us make better choices in the long run.

my understanding, based on the various things i've read is roughly this: the food the average american eats (read: carbs and sugars) keeps our blood sugar at higher levels than our bodies like. our bodies use the hormone insulin to keep our blood sugar in its preferred range. insulin lowers our blood sugar, ultimately converting excess sugar into fat to be stored away for later use. but because we keep feeding our bodies more foods that convert to sugar in our blood, it doesn't really get to burning that stored fat for fuel since it's always using the sugar first.

paleolithic diets generally focus on eating the types of food our cavemen ancestors ate -- though there are some variances from person-to-person about how they adapt this for a modern lifestyle -- suggesting minimal grains, starches, and sugars, and more dietary fats, protein, and vegetables.

the first step we are taking in making changes is to cut grains, starches and sweets - with the exception of up to one cup of rice a week. this includes (but unfortunately is not limited to): pasta, bread, corn and corn products, candy, juice, soda... 

we will be doing this for about three weeks, and then see how we feel, whether we have noticed any differences in the way our bodies operate and weigh, and if we feel confident that we can continue with the change.

so far we have been following these eating habits for a few days, and while there have been annoying moments of us contemplating things we want but can't have, the change overall doesn't feel so bad. one of the things i really like about it is not having to count calories or points as in previous diets. i eat until i am full, and i feel like this is significantly less than i ate before, because fat is filling. instead of sitting down with a waffle with the works (usually sweet stuff on top), i've had an egg over-easy with a piece or two of sausage, and felt full for hours. i can snack on a handful of almonds instead of a bag of potato chips, and feel quite content and significantly less guilty.

we'll see how things progress. right now we are taking it one day at a time, and trying to be a step ahead of our hunger by knowing what our next meal is going to be. i find that if we wait until we are hungry to figure out what to eat, we are more likely to give into bad choices.

...more to come on what we've been eating. ;)